Here’s a look at snap counts for the Eagles during their Week 12 loss to the Panthers. We’ll go position-by-position.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

Bryce Brown

41

82%

Stanley Havili

12

24%

Dion Lewis

8

16%

Even though he hadn’t had 15+ carries since high school, Bryce Brown carried the load in his first career start. He played the same number of snaps LeSean McCoy normally plays and had 23 touches, including 19 carries, for an Eagles rookie record 178 yards. There were of course the two costly fumbles in the second half, but Brown was one of the few players fans could get excited about.

Dion Lewis had five carries for 24 yards, but played just eight snaps. Stanley Havili had one catch and played 12 snaps.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

Jeremy Maclin

49

98%

Damaris Johnson

40

80%

Riley Cooper

36

72%

DeSean Jackson

12

24%

Brent Celek

43

86%

Clay Harbor

9

18%

DeSean Jackson left the game in the first quarter, and Jason Avant was inactive because of a hamstring injury. That left the Eagles with just three healthy receivers (newcomer Greg Salas didn’t dress). Behind Jeremy Maclin, Damaris Johnson saw the most action with 40 snaps. Johnson and Riley Cooper combined for just three catches and 20 yards.

I guess we’re seeing what this coaching staff thinks of Clay Harbor. Even though the Eagles only had three healthy receivers, Harbor played just nine snaps and was not targeted.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

Trent Cole

46

69%

Mike Patterson

44

66%

Jason Babin

40

60%

Cullen Jenkins

39

58%

Brandon Graham

30

45%

Cedric Thornton

26

39%

Derek Landri

23

34%

Vinny Curry

21

31%

Fletcher Cox

5

7%

Darryl Tapp

1

1%

With Jason Babin out, Brandon Graham figures to take over with the first team at left defensive end. Vinny Curry dressed for the first time all season and had five tackles on 21 snaps yesterday. He played right defensive end, but could also get a shot on the left side with Graham. Darryl Tapp was the odd man out yesterday, and Phillip Hunt was inactive. Tapp won’t be here next year. Graham and Curry figure to see a bump in playing time. And Hunt could get back in the mix too.

Mike Patterson is one of the few good stories on this team. Not only is he back on the field, but with Cox going down with an injury, Patterson played starter’s snaps and had a sack.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

DeMeco Ryans

67

100%

Mychal Kendricks

65

97%

Akeem Jordan

28

42%

Casey Matthews

1

1%

Nothing really to say about the linebackers. The Eagles were in their base defense with Akeem Jordan on 42 percent of the snaps.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

Nnamdi Asomugha

66

99%

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

66

99%

Brandon Boykin

34

51%

Curtis Marsh

2

3%

Nate Allen

67

100%

Kurt Coleman

66

99%

Issues continue in the secondary as Kurt Coleman and Brandon Boykin appeared to be responsible for the two early touchdowns. At some point, perhaps the unknowns like Curtis Marsh and David Sims will get an opportunity.

Here’s a review of how the Eagles running backs, wide receivers and tight ends performed against the Redskins on Sunday:

LeSean McCoy – He suffered the concussion late in the game. Prior to that, McCoy carried 15 times for 45 yards. But he had his most effective game in a long time as a receiver with six catches for 67 yards. The Eagles had a perfect call as he took a screen 20 yards in the first. Two plays later, they ran a fake wide-receiver screen and then came back to McCoy for 25 yards. He has to do a better job of taking care of the football. McCoy now has four fumbles on the season. He had three total in 2010 and 2011 combined. Ups and downs as a blocker. Good blitz pickup on Nick Foles’ first interception. And again on Foles’ 21-yard completion to Damaris Johnson in the second. Poor job picking up linebacker Keenan Robinson on Foles’ second interception. McCoy blocked Ryan Kerrigan to the ground in pass protection in the fourth. But there were issues. The Redskins showed blitz on 3rd-and-9 in the red zone, but only rushed four. That left McCoy on Kerrigan one-on-one, and he gave up a sack/forced fumble. He could not hold his block on third down in the fourth as Foles was forced to scramble and throw the ball away. It looked like McCoy was in position to help Dallas Reynolds after Barry Cofield went right around him, but he didn’t get there, and Foles took a huge hit.

Bryce Brown – If McCoy’s out, he figures to be the primary back. Brown ran five times for 35 yards against the Redskins. He had a nice 13-yard run to the right side in the second and later broke a couple tackles for an 18-yard run (but Jeremy Maclin was called for holding). In his last three games, Brown has carried 12 times for 85 yards (7.1 YPC). He’s getting better as the season’s going on, which makes sense, considering how little he’d played in the past couple of years.

Stanley Havili – A 9-yard catch and run in the first. That was it.

DeSean Jackson – The Eagles had no success getting him the football. Jackson had two catches for 5 yards, and those both came on wide receiver screens. It looked like he might have had a chance at a big play down the right sideline, but Foles’ pass floated out of bounds. Foles looked for him deep against a blitz in the fourth, but Jackson was covered. He did a horrible job as a blocker on one play, not even attempting to block Brandon Meriweather on McCoy’s run that was stopped after a 1-yard gain in the second.

Jeremy Maclin – Zero catches on two targets. We’ll need to wait for the All-22 to see if he was open and just not getting the ball. Decent block on the WR screen to Riley Cooper that picked up 15 in the first. He was called for holding on Brown’s 18-yard run in the second. And Maclin took a big hit on an ill-advised Foles throw in the fourth.

But with Maclin, the bigger picture is intriguing. He’s only signed through the 2013 season and then is scheduled to become a free agent. The new coach is going to determine the Eagles’ identity on offense. Maybe he’ll decide to go to more two tight end looks. Maybe he’ll want to run the ball more. Maybe he’ll decide the Eagles need a bigger, physical receiver to complement Jackson. Or maybe he’ll see a lot of untapped potential in Maclin. We just don’t know. The Eagles could let Maclin play out his contract and decide what to do with him after 2013. They could sign him to an extension this offseason. Or they could at least see what kind of interest there might be in Maclin for a possible trade. Unless the Eagles extend him this offseason, it makes sense for them to consider using an early draft pick on a wide receiver in April.

Riley Cooper – He finished with five catches for 61 yards. Cooper picked up 15 yards on a WR screen on third down in the first. He also had a 23-yard catch and run in the first, but dropped a 10-yard out in the fourth. Good effort as a blocker on the 20-yard screen to McCoy in the second.

Damaris Johnson – His lone catch was a 21-yarder on 3rd-and-17 in the second. Terrible job as a blocker, allowing DeAngelo Hall to go right past him and drop McCoy for a 5-yard loss in the fourth. Johnson had a 16-yard punt return, one of his best of the year.

Brent Celek – Drops continue to be an issue. Celek had the ball bounce off his hands on the interception in the first. And he had another drop on 3rd-and-5 in the second. On the season, Celek’s got seven drops, tied for fourth-most in the league, per STATS, Inc. He did a good job as a blocker on the 8-yard screen to Jackson. But Celek did a poor job on linebacker Rob Jackson on a McCoy run that was stopped after a 2-yard gain.

Clay Harbor – He didn’t exactly seize the opportunity either. Harbor had two drops and one catch for -1 yards. It’s tough to know what his responsibility was, but Harbor was the only player who had a chance of blocking Hall on the bootleg to open the game, and he was late getting to the cornerback. He gave good effort as a blocker on Brown’s 5-yard run in the first. And Harbor delivered a good block on Kerrigan on Brown’s 13-yard run in the first. Foles targeted him on a bootleg in the second, and it looked like Harbor was open. Either he tripped, or Foles just misfired.

Here’s a look at snap counts for the Eagles during their Week 11 loss to the Redskins. We’ll go position-by-position.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

LeSean McCoy

53

71%

Bryce Brown

20

27%

Stanley Havili

9

12%

LeSean McCoy played 71 percent of the snaps, and many are questioning why he was on the field with the team trailing by 25 points and less than two minutes left. McCoy suffered a concussion on a 7-yard run when Redskins safety Madieu Williams hit him, helmet-to-helmet.

That means rookie Bryce Brown could see an increased role in the coming weeks. Brown carried five times for 35 yards yesterday and played 20 snaps overall (a season-high). He’s carried 12 times for 85 yards (7.1 YPC) in the last three weeks. On the season, Brown’s run 32 times for 141 yards (4.4 YPC).

Stanley Havili played nine snaps, his lowest total of the season.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

Jeremy Maclin

71

95%

DeSean Jackson

70

93%

Riley Cooper

52

69%

Damaris Johnson

14

19%

Brent Celek

55

73%

Clay Harbor

26

35%

Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson played 95 and 93 percent of the snaps, respectively. Yet somehow, they were both off the field on a 3rd-and-5 play in the first half where the Eagles went with five receivers. The pair combined for two catches and 5 yards.

Riley Cooper had five catches for 61 yards. He figures to continue to see an increased role if Jason Avant misses next week’s game against the Panthers. Clay Harbor played 35 percent of the snaps, his highest number since Week 5.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

Trent Cole

34

63%

Jason Babin

31

57%

Fletcher Cox

30

56%

Derek Landri

25

46%

Mike Patterson

23

43%

Brandon Graham

22

41%

Cullen Jenkins

22

41%

Darryl Tapp

19

35%

Cedric Thornton

11

20%

The weekly Jason Babin/Brandon Graham split was 57 percent to 41 percent. It would probably be a good idea to give Fletcher Cox a bump in playing time, considering how well he’s performing. I don’t know what else to say about Vinny Curry. He appears healthy, and I have a hard time believing the coaches have determined that he can’t play based on practice. It’s time for him to be out there.

Mike Patterson saw his most action of the season, playing 23 snaps.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

DeMeco Ryans

53

98%

Mychal Kendricks

53

98%

Akeem Jordan

27

50%

DeMeco Ryans continues to play at a high level on a weekly basis. That is one offseason move that has worked out well for the Eagles.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

Nnamdi Asomugha

53

98%

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

53

98%

Brandon Boykin

21

39%

Kurt Coleman

53

98%

Nate Allen

53

98%

What is this secondary going to look like next year? Is anyone safe? I’d say Brandon Boykin is the most likely of the bunch. He’s had his share of issues, but has shown potential as the slot cornerback. The Eagles have decisions to make on every other player back there.

Here’s a review of how the Eagles running backs, wide receivers and tight ends performed in Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys, after having re-watched the game.

LeSean McCoy – He was sick during the week, but performed well on Sunday, rushing 16 times for 82 yards (5.1 YPC). After a rough stretch, McCoy has bounced back the past two weeks (35 carries, 201 yards, 5.7 YPC). McCoy had a big 23-yard run in the third quarter and also added a 13-yarder. On the season, he has seven runs of 20+ yards. That’s tied for second-most in the NFL behind only Adrian Peterson. Quite impressive, when you consider he’s running behind a makeshift offensive line. McCoy had four catches for 20 yards, including a 12-yard pickup on a screen. Andy Reid said he wanted to spell McCoy more since he was under the weather, but he still played 81 percent of the snaps.

Bryce Brown – He played 12 snaps and was ineffective as a runner (three carries for 1 yard). Brown failed to help Demetress Bell on DeMarcus Ware in the second and allowed a hit on Nick Foles. But he did an excellent job of picking up the blitzing defensive back on Foles’ 44-yard touchdown to Jeremy Maclin. As the Fox broadcast showed, Brown was then the first person to congratulate Maclin in the end zone.

Stanley Havili – As I detailed right after the game, the end of the first half was classic clock mismanagement by the Eagles. Havili ran out of bounds after a short catch, allowing the Cowboys to preserve a timeout and get the ball back. In the fourth quarter, he had the 1-yard touchdown. Havili also had one grab for 3 yards. He played 15 snaps.

DeSean Jackson – He finished with five catches for 62 yards. Early on, Jackson broke a couple tackles and took a screen 31 yards to set up the Eagles’ touchdown. He made a nice adjustment on the 7-yard slant in the third. The interception was a similar play, but Jackson couldn’t make the catch (the throw was behind him). He generally doesn’t give the Eagles much as a blocker, but Jackson delivered good effort on the 12-yard screen to McCoy.

Jeremy Maclin – He had his legs taken out and couldn’t hang on to the pass from Michael Vick in the first. Maclin left the game briefly, but would return. Andy Reid said yesterday that he suffered a lower back strain. I will rarely mention players shying away from contact because, well, it’s easy for me to say behind my laptop. But Fox analyst Troy Aikman was honest in his assessment that Maclin pulled up on a slant from Foles. “He saw [Gerald] Sensabaugh sitting there in the safety position, and he didn’t want any part of it,” Aikman said. “He knew it was going to be a big-time collision had he continued to go in and make a play on that ball, and he just said ‘No thank you.'” Maclin had the 44-yard touchdown in the third. And he made a nice one-handed catch for 11 yards in the fourth. Overall, eight catches for 93 yards.

Jason Avant – He only played 12 snaps before suffering a hamstring strain. Avant was targeted twice and had one catch for -1 yards.

Riley Cooper – He played a season-high 44 snaps and did a great job on the 2-yard fade in the end zone in the first. It makes you wonder why the Eagles haven’t tried that more in the past. Cooper drew a holding penalty in the third. And again in the fourth, negating a Foles interception. He gave great effort as a downfield blocker on McCoy’s 23-yard run in the third, but couldn’t hold his block on Morris Claiborne on McCoy’s 3-yard run in the fourth. Overall, two catches for 24 yards.

Damaris Johnson – With Avant out, he played 11 snaps. Johnson had a 32-yard catch and run to set up the Eagles’ fourth-quarter touchdown. He also made a 12-yard grab, but it was called back because of a King Dunlap penalty in the third.

Brent Celek – According to Pro Football Focus, he was kept in to block on just five of 43 passing plays. The Eagles’ game-plan seemed to focus more on getting the ball out quickly than keeping in extra blockers. Celek was targeted three times and had three catches for 31 yards. On the first play, he faked a run block on DeMarcus Ware before going out into his route. Celek stiff-armed Sensabaugh for a 17-yard gain.

Clay Harbor – He played 17 snaps and had three catches for 25 yards. On the 3rd-and-2 throw in the third, Harbor blocked Ware, giving Foles time to throw to Maclin. Ware was reading run. If he had been going after Foles immediately, he would have had a clear path to the quarterback and likely a sack.

Here’s the All-22 review of the Eagles’ offense, with a focus on why the team failed to score a touchdown on five trips inside the red zone against the Saints.

Play 1: On the first play of the game, Michael Vick might have been better off using DeSean Jackson as a decoy and going to Jeremy Maclin.

Maclin’s got all kinds of space in the middle of the field. This would have been an easy 15-yard gain to start the drive off. Instead, Vick takes a shot with Jackson. And to be fair, the decision is defensible. Jackson’s running away from the safety. If he can create some separation, the Eagles have a chance at a big play. But cornerback Patrick Robinson did a good job in coverage.

Play 2: Later on the first drive, the Eagles had a stretch of three straight sacks. The second one, by Brodrick Bunkley, was a direct result of defensive end Will Smith beating King Dunlap. Had the left tackle done a better job, the Eagles would have had a shot at a huge gain.

After the play-fake, Bryce Brown went out into his route, and there were zero Saints defenders nearby. If Vick’s able to get him the ball, it’s a big play. Maybe even a touchdown if Brown makes a man miss. But instead, Vick had pressure in his face, tried to scramble and took the sack.

Play 3: The first red-zone trip resulted in a pick-six. And while there are certainly things to criticize Vick about in this game (see below), I don’t know that this play is really one of them. He knew the blitz was coming and got rid of the ball quickly. Here’s a look.

I actually buy the explanation from Vick and Andy Reid that they thought Brent Celek was held. You’re not going to get every call, but this play draws a flag more often than not. With Celek blanketed, Vick’s throw had to be to the outside. And if the tight end doesn’t get held, we might be talking about what a good job Vick did of fitting it into a tight window.

You can see his other options on the play. It looked like he wanted to go to Clay Harbor (blue arrow) with his first read. Harbor’s open in front of the defender, but the safety blitzing from that side likely got in Vick’s way, and he couldn’t attempt the throw. In the middle of the field, Jackson is covered. On the right, Maclin has some room, but I’m not sure Vick could have turned around and gotten him the ball without first getting crushed.

Play 4: On red-zone trip number two, the Eagles went to the old reliable shovel pass. Perhaps you recall them using this once or twice over the years? The play here requires two things to take place to be successful. One is that the linebacker goes with Stanley Havili into the flat. The other is that right guard Dennis Kelly executes his block.

If one of the two things happens, maybe McCoy can make something out of nothing, which he is asked to do all the time anyway. But instead, neither of the two happen.

McCoy gets crushed for no gain. I’ve heard some argue that this play was too predictable, and I think that’s fair. The linebacker kept his eyes on McCoy the whole time and was able to make a play. The Eagles certainly did not catch the Saints off-guard.

Play 5: I will fully admit that I know far less about scheme than NFL coaches. But I can’t figure out how this 3rd-and-11 setup from the second quarter makes any sense. The Eagles go with an empty backfield and five receivers.

The offense had trouble protecting Vick all game long (all season long?) up to this point. The Saints were showing blitz, meaning he’d likely have to get rid of the ball quickly. But the Eagles needed 11 yards for a first down, so right away, that doesn’t seem like a recipe for success. And it wasn’t.

Three of the receivers (red boxes) are running vertical routes and are nowhere close to being open by the time Vick has to get rid of the ball. Maclin (yellow circle) isn’t open either, and even if he was, he’s not in a position to pick up a first down. So Vick fires it to Jason Avant for what would have been about a 2-yard gain had it been completed.

Nothing about this play made sense to me. If someone can help me out, chime in.

Play 6: After the special-teams takeaway, the Eagles had a chance to make it a 21-17 game. On first down, they got what they wanted too. Here, you’ll see Maclin wide open on the post.

The cornerback is trailing him, and the safety is occupied by Jackson. This should be a touchdown, but Vick tucks the ball and takes off for 14 yards. The Saints blitzed, and Vick did not have a clean pocket. But if he had kept his eyes downfield when he started to scramble, he would have seen Maclin.

On one hand, Vick left a touchdown on the field. On the other hand, is it really reasonable to expect him to be patient here, given the beating he’d taken all game long? This play’s a pretty good example of why the offense is such a mess right now.

Play 7: Since going with the empty backfield made so much sense earlier, the Eagles try it again. The Saints show six at the line of scrimmage, but the key is they only rush five. One linebacker drops back into coverage.

Of course, the Eagles do not know the linebacker is going to drop back when the ball is snapped, so they slide protection to the right and let the defensive end come unblocked. Vick’s hoping to go to Celek, but because the linebacker dropped back, a throw to the tight end would likely result in a turnover. In a way, Vick shows progress here for not forcing it.

As you can see, nowhere to go with the football. The sack occurs (unofficially) 1.9 seconds after the ball is snapped. No chance.

Play 8: On the very next play, Vick has Maclin on the post in the end zone again. He’s got the cornerback trailing.

Watching live, I thought this was just a throw that Vick sailed. But the safety dropping adds to the degree of difficulty. And the result is an incompletion. It also doesn’t help that Dallas Reynolds gets beat and Vick gets hit (again) as he got rid of the ball.

Play 9: There’s at least one sack (actually two) we can say definitively was on Vick. Here, he’s got Harbor running across the middle of the field, but doesn’t pull the trigger.

He had about 3.6 seconds before he was sacked. The Saints only rushed four. This is a play Vick’s got to make.

Play 10: On the fourth red-zone trip, Vick missed a potential touchdown on what would have been an easy throw.

McCoy (red circle) is all by himself in the flat. There are no defenders to that side of the field. At the very least, he gets inside the 10. There’s a good chance he scores. But Vick launches one out of the back of the end zone for Jackson instead. This one’s on the quarterback. It was a four-man rush without pressure.

After this play, the Eagles just imploded. Demetress Bell had two penalties and allowed a sack. McCoy had a drop. And Celek fumbled.

On the fifth red-zone trip, which took place when the game was essentially over, Harbor and Avant had drops.

Two more quick things: One, if you’re wondering why I didn’t show more of the protection breakdowns, those were covered in an earlier post. And if you’re going to comment that they should have used McCoy more in the red zone, you may have a point, but it’s not quite that simple. I’ll cover why in a future post.

Here’s a look at snap counts for the Eagles during their Week 9 loss against the Saints. We’ll go position-by-position.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

LeSean McCoy

64

81%

Stanley Havili

18

23%

Bryce Brown

11

14%

LeSean McCoy had one of his best games of the year with 19 carries for 119 yards. For the first time all season, the Eagles kept all four running backs – McCoy, Bryce Brown, Chris Polk and Dion Lewis – active. Lewis did not play at all. Brown played just 11 snaps, but made the most of them with four carries for 49 yards. Polk played special teams only and came up with the forced fumble in the third quarter on kickoff coverage. Stanley Havili played slightly less than normal.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

Jeremy Maclin

77

97%

DeSean Jackson

77

97%

Jason Avant

44

56%

Riley Cooper

6

8%

Brent Celek

73

92%

Clay Harbor

25

32%

Nothing really noteworthy at wide receiver. Riley Cooper played just six snaps as the team’s fourth wide receiver. Damaris Johnson was active, but did not play offensively.

Celek was involved in both Eagles turnovers. He was probably held on the first one – a Michael Vick interception that bounced off his hand. And Celek fumbled in the fourth quarter with the team trying to stage a late-game comeback. He finished with five catches for 47 yards. Harbor saw his most action since Week 2. He had three catches for 20 yards.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

Trent Cole

37

66%

Jason Babin

33

59%

Cullen Jenkins

32

57%

Fletcher Cox

25

45%

Cedric Thornton

22

39%

Derek Landri

21

38%

Brandon Graham

21

38%

Phillip Hunt

18

32%

Mike Patterson

15

27%

Last week, the Jason Babin/Brandon Graham split was 33/31. This week, it was 33/21, as Babin saw significantly more playing time. Each player had a sack/forced fumble. Other than the two sacks, the Eagles were credited with just one hit on Drew Brees.

Mike Patterson saw his first action of the season, playing 15 snaps. Phillip Hunt didn’t play any defensive snaps last week, but filled in for Darryl Tapp (whose wife was giving birth) at right defensive end behind Trent Cole this week.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

DeMeco Ryans

56

100%

Mychal Kendricks

56

100%

Akeem Jordan

35

62%

Casey Matthews

1

2%

The only thing notable here is that the Eagles were in their base defense with Akeem Jordan on the field for 62 percent of the snaps. Fourteen of Brees’ 21 completions went to tight ends and running backs. The Saints ran 25 times for 140 yards (5.6 YPC).

Overall Snaps

Snap %

Nnamdi Asomugha

56

100%

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

54

96%

Brandon Boykin

21

38%

Curtis Marsh

1

2%

Kurt Coleman

56

100%

David Sims

56

100%

David Sims filled in for Nate Allen. He missed a tackle on the Chris Ivory touchdown and got matched up with Jimmy Graham on several occasions. Sims led the Eagles with eight tackles, although many of those were after completed passes.

Here is a review of how the Eagles’ running backs, wide receivers and tight ends performed in Sunday’s game against the Falcons.

LeSean McCoy – The numbers are not pretty: 16 carries for 45 yards. In the last three games, McCoy has rushed 46 times for 120 yards (2.6 YPC). He actually had some good moments in this one. McCoy broke a tackle and picked up 7 in the second. He had a couple nice 10-yard runs in the fourth. And McCoy scored twice – once on a 2-yard run where he left Asante Samuel in the dust and another on a 7-yard reception. The problem? Five of McCoy’s 16 carries, or about 31 percent, were stopped for either no gain or negative yardage. That’s the direct result of a makeshift offensive line and McCoy trying to make something out of nothing. McCoy’s longest run of the game was 10 yards. And on the season, the big plays in the running game have taken a huge hit. McCoy is averaging one run of 20+ yards every 31.8 carries. Last year, it was one every 19.5. And looking ahead, I don’t see a real solution. McCoy will have some good weeks, but there are sure to be more struggles. As a blocker, it’s tough to say whether he should have picked up Thomas DeCoud on the safety blitz that resulted in a sack in the first. McCoy had a good blitz pickup on Vick’s 2-yard completion to Brent Celek. And he delivered a good lead block on Michael Vick’s 4-yard run on 3rd-and-3 in the second. He had three catches for 22 yards, including an 11-yard pickup on a screen.

Bryce Brown – He played eight snaps and had one carry – a nice 5-yard pickup in the red zone, although Brown fumbled (and recovered).

Stanley Havili – He played 14 snaps and did not get a touch (one target). Havili split out wide vs. Samuel in the second, and it looked like he got open, but Vick took off and ran for a first down. He missed his block on a McCoy run that picked up just 1 yard in the second. Not sure how Havili and Celek ended up trying to block Kroy Biermann on a four-man rush that forced Vick to run in the fourth.

DeSean Jackson – Five catches for 59 yards on seven targets. Jackson made a nice move to pick up 3 on a 3rd-and-2 completion in the second. He took a WR screen 12 yards in the second and had a 12-yard grab in the third. Jackson’s best play came when he turned a 6-yard grab into a 32-yard gain, leaving Samuel in the dust in the third. The Eagles got nothing going downfield in the passing game. I’m anxious to see with the All-22 whether they had opportunities that were missed.

Jeremy Maclin – Not a strong game for Maclin. He was targeted 11 times and had just six catches for 33 yards. Maclin also dropped a couple balls. He took a WR screen 12 yards in the second and caught a 10-yard pass in the red zone in the fourth, but other than that, Maclin was quiet.

Jason Avant – Four catches for 45 yards on seven targets. Avant had an 8-yard grab over the middle in the first. He did a nice job as a blocker throughout. Avant helped on the 12-yard screen to Maclin in the second. He did a good job on McCoy’s 7-yard run in the second. And Avant had effective blocks on both of McCoy’s touchdowns.

Riley Cooper – He played 18 snaps, was targeted once and didn’t have a catch. Cooper was the fourth wide receiver and filled in for Jackson when he left the game briefly because of an injury.

Brent Celek – Early on this season, it looked like Celek would be a nice option in the passing game. But he’s averaging just 24.7 yards per game in the last three. In this one, Celek had three catches for 32 yards on five targets. He wasn’t used much as a blocker either. Celek stayed in to block on just five of 38 passing plays, according to Pro Football Focus. He had a drop on the first possession, making four in the past two weeks. As a blocker, Celek did a good job of sealing the edge for Brown’s 5-yard run in the second. He delivered a good block on the WR screen to Jackson in the second. But he missed his block on the WR screen to Jackson that was stopped for no gain.

Clay Harbor – It seems pretty clear at this point that Marty Mornhinweg and Andy Reid don’t think Harbor can give much to this offense. He played just nine snaps and did not have a ball thrown his way. Harbor did a good job blocking on the WR screen to Jackson that picked up 12 in the second.

Here’s a look at snap counts for the Eagles during their Week 8 loss against the Falcons. We’ll go position-by-position.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

LeSean McCoy

54

86%

Stanley Havili

14

22%

Bryce Brown

8

13%

McCoy carried 16 times for 45 yards (2.8 YPC). Brown had just one carry for 5 yards. And Chris Polk played strictly special teams. He’s yet to play an offensive snap all season. At this point, Dion Lewis has no role. He was inactive for the sixth time in seven games yesterday. Havili, meanwhile, played his fewest snaps (percentage) since Week 3 against the Cardinals. Of course, part of that had to do with the Eagles getting down early.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

Jeremy Maclin

62

98%

DeSean Jackson

49

78%

Jason Avant

46

73%

Riley Cooper

18

29%

Brent Celek

54

86%

Clay Harbor

9

14%

At wide receiver, Cooper saw significant action, playing 29 percent of the snaps. He was the Eagles’ fourth wide receiver. Damaris Johnson was inactive for the second straight game. The question of who the team’s punt returner would be didn’t matter much as Atlanta was forced to punt just once all game. Presumably, Mardy Gilyard was going to handle those duties, but he got injured, and Brandon Boykin returned the lone punt.

So much for using Harbor more this season. He saw his fewest snaps (percentage) of the season. The last time Harbor played less than he played Sunday was his rookie season in 2010.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

Trent Cole

55

73%

Cullen Jenkins

51

68%

Fletcher Cox

44

59%

Cedric Thornton

36

48%

Jason Babin

33

44%

Derek Landri

32

43%

Brandon Graham

31

41%

Darryl Tapp

18

24%

Phillip Hunt

0

0%

The most significant personnel move on defense was getting Graham more playing time. It was pretty much an equal time-share with Babin. Babin played 33 snaps, and Graham played 31, as the two rotated at left defensive end.

Cox had been playing starter’s snaps, but this was the first time all season he actually began the game on the field in place of Landri.

Hunt was questionable going in, but ended up playing. He got zero snaps on defense and was only used in a special-teams role.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

DeMeco Ryans

75

100%

Mychal Kendricks

58

77%

Akeem Jordan

37

49%

Casey Matthews

19

25%

Kendricks was disciplined for what Bowles called “personal issues off the field, violation of team compliance” and sat for the first series. Per reports, he missed a team meeting on Friday. Matthews took his place.

Overall Snaps

Snap %

Nnamdi Asomugha

75

100%

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

70

93%

Brandon Boykin

38

51%

Curtis Marsh

3

4%

Kurt Coleman

75

100%

Nate Allen

75

100%

Nothing really notable with the defensive backs. Boykin played 51 percent of the snaps as the nickel corner. Marsh spelled Rodgers-Cromartie for a few snaps at left cornerback.

Here’s a player-by-player review of how the Eagles’ running backs, wide receivers and tight ends performed Sunday against the Lions.

LeSean McCoy – When we talk about the struggles of the offensive line, often times the focus is on pass protection. But it appears we’re now seeing how missing Jason Peters and Jason Kelce (and replacing them with Demetress Bell and Dallas Reynolds) is affecting McCoy and a once-potent run game. On Sunday, McCoy carried 14 times for 22 yards, averaging just 1.6 yards per attempt. For his career, in games in which he’s had at least 10 attempts, this was McCoy’s second-lowest average, behind just the Dolphins game from 2011. The running back simply had nowhere to go Sunday as Lions defenders lived in the backfield and dominated the Eagles’ offensive line. In the past two games, McCoy has 75 yards on 30 carries (2.5 YPC). His longest run in that span has gone for 11 yards. The big plays haven’t been there. Last year, McCoy averaged one run of 20+ yards every 19.5 attempts. This year, it’s one every 27.8 attempts. He’s battling every snap, but getting very little help. That’s ‘a huge concern for this offense going forward. As for Sunday’s performance specifically, McCoy was used a lot in the passing game with seven catches, but he totaled just 26 yards. He had the 2-yard touchdown and took a screen 17 yards in the second. Other than that, though, not a lot of success as a receiver. The truth is McCoy is good enough to be effective some weeks even if the blocking isn’t there. But you get the sense there are more games like Sunday’s coming down the road.

Bryce Brown – Brown played 16 snaps, but didn’t fare any better than McCoy, rushing five times for 4 yards. He had a nice 5-yard run in the red zone in the third. And on one play, he broke a tackle, but did not look particularly quick bouncing to the outside for 1 yard. On the season, 19 carries for 51 yards (2.7 YPC).

Stanley Havili – Up and down. Nice lead block on Brown’s 5-yard run in the third. Poor job on McCoy’s 1-yard screen in the fourth. Overall, Havili played 24 snaps. He did not have any touches.

DeSean Jackson – Another solid game. Jackson had five catches for 74 yards, and those numbers could have been even better, but Michael Vick missed him on the deep post that resulted in an interception. The Eagles tried a toss to him on the first series that resulted in a disastrous 14-yard loss. The play relied on Cliff Avril biting on the fake to McCoy. He didn’t, and Jackson was stopped in the backfield. Jackson made a nice 9-yard grab in the second. He picked up some YAC and showed good hands on a slant that picked up 16 yards in the third. And he made a nice catch for a 30-yard gain down the sideline. Jackson’s putting together an outstanding year. He’s on pace for 77 catches and 1,240 yards – both of which would be career highs. And he’s yet to drop a pass.

Jeremy Maclin – Easily his best game of the year. Maclin finished with six catches for 130 yards. He also drew drew two pass interference penalties for 32 yards. The big play was the 70-yard touchdown in the fourth. Maclin picked up 15 yards on a third down in the third. And he turned a 6-yard grab into a 16-yard gain against the blitz. Maclin could have had another big gain on the Eagles’ second-to-last drive, but Vick’s pass was batted at the line by Ndamukong Suh.

Jason Avant – He had two catches on four targets for 21 yards, including a nice 17-yard grab in the second. I’m not sure why he didn’t try to run out of bounds after making a 4-yard catch near sideline at the end of the first half. On the Maclin 70-yard score, the Eagles lined up in a bunch formation, and two Lions defenders went with Avant, leaving Maclin wide open.

Riley Cooper – Played 10 snaps and finished with a pair of catches for 18 yards. Cooper had a third-down grab for a first early on and a 10-yard grab in the second. This was his first action of the season.

Brent Celek – Rough day for the veteran tight end on a number of different levels. He seems to be on the receiving end of big hits every week, but there’s no questioning Celek’s toughness. He had a chance for a monster game, but finished with just four catches for 33 yards. He dropped what should have been an 8-yard touchdown in the third and was called for pass interference, negating a touchdown on another drive. Celek dropped what could have been a third-down conversion in the first quarter. As a blocker, good job on Brown’s 5-yard run in the third. For some reason, he was asked to block Cliff Avril one-on-one in the third, even though the Lions weren’t blitzing, and Celek gave up a sack.

Clay Harbor – A non-factor. He played 20 snaps, but had just two grabs for 9 yards.

Here are 10 things to know about the matchup between the Eagles’ offense and the Lions’ defense. And if you missed the first cheat sheet, click here.

1. The numbers show the Lions are allowing 28.5 points per game, but that’s a little deceiving when you consider they’ve given up four special-teams scores in the last two games. Football Outsiders has Detroit ranked 20th overall – 24th against the pass and 15th against the run. Like the Eagles, the Lions’ attack revolves around getting pressure up front with their defensive line. They’ve got talent at linebacker, but their cornerbacks are not on the same level as the Birds.

2. Let’s start with those defensive linemen. Don’t expect to see the Lions blitz a lot. Last year, they rushed four linemen 77.7 percent of the time, third-most in the NFL, according to Football Outsiders. And like the Eagles, Detroit will use a rotation. Against the Vikings, seven different players were on the field for at least 20 snaps. Cliff Avril is listed as questionable with a back injury. If he goes, he’ll match up with Todd Herremans at left defensive end. Avril led the team with 11 sacks and 27 hurries last year. Herremans had a poor outing a couple weeks ago against the Giants but was very good against the Steelers.

3. On the other side, Demetress Bell will see a lot of veteran Kyle Vanden Bosch. Vanden Bosch spent five seasons with the Titans, where he learned his trade from Jim Washburn, twice tallying double-digit sack seasons. Now 33-years-old, Vanden Bosch had eight sacks and 15.5 hurries in 2011. Bell has been far from perfect, but he has improved and held up well for the most part in pass protection last week against the Steelers. One key matchup to watch will be right guard Danny Watkins against Ndamukong Suh. Suh had just four sacks in his second seasons, but Football Outsiders had him down for 24 hurries. Watkins continues to struggle in pass protection. Defensive tackle Corey Williams is out with a knee injury.

4. Confusion was an issue for the Eagles up front last week. And while the Lions won’t blitz a lot, they present some challenges for Howard Mudd’s group. Here’s one look from Week 4 where three linemen had their hands on the ground.

Even though there’s a lot of space in between them, Avril is going to twist inside behind Suh.

As you can see, both Vikings offensive linemen block Suh, and Avril runs free. If you want to put this into Eagles terms, we’re talking potentially about Watkins and Herremans. The result is a third-down incompletion and a near sack.

5. Of course, the aggressive pass-rush and use of the wide-nine has its disadvantages, as we’ve seen with the Eagles from time to time. One of those is the run D. Opponents are averaging 4.1 yards per carry against Detroit. In Week 4, Adrian Peterson rumbled for 102 yards, averaging 4.9 yards per carry. The image below may look familiar to you.

Vanden Bosch is lined up wide, ready to get after the passer. But the Vikings call a run with Percy Harvin.

Vanden Bosch is caught way upfield, and Harvin has a huge lane to run through for 14 yards.

The Eagles have put together balanced game-plans in each of the past two weeks. And while LeSean McCoy’s numbers (16 carries, 53 yards) from the Steelers game won’t jump off the page, he ran the ball well. He should be able to do some damage on Sunday.

6. The Lions have some talent at linebacker with Stephen Tulloch, DeAndre Levy (WILL) and Justin Durant (SAM). Tulloch played in Tennessee for five seasons before joining the Lions, so the wide-nine is nothing new to him. Levy, a third-round pick in 2009, has started each of the past four seasons. Durant spent his first four years in the league with the Jaguars before joining the Lions in 2011. Levy’s blitzed 22 times in four games (per Pro Football Focus); Tulloch 15 times; and Durant 10 times.

7. Opposing QBs have completed 66.1 percent of their passes against the Lions and are averaging 7.4 yards per attempt. Detroit has allowed five touchdown passes and has yet to come up with an interception. Veteran Chris Houston and rookie third-round pick Bill Bentley will match up against DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin on the outside. The Eagles could look to take shots at Bentley deep. In the past two games, he’s been called for three pass interference penalties and one defensive holding. Jackson is averaging 4.8 receptions and 78.2 yards per game. Both would be career-highs if they held up the rest of the way. He’s also yet to drop a pass. Maclin hasn’t been able to get going with just 165 yards in four games.

8. Brent Celek could play a big role Sunday. Football Outsiders ranks the Lions 27th at defending the tight end. Vernon Davis had five catches for 73 yards and a pair of scores against Detroit. Tennessee’s Jared Cook had four catches for 77 yards and a touchdown against the Lions. As for Celek, he had a season-low 9 yards receiving last week, although one of his three grabs was a touchdown. Part of the reason was that Celek stayed in to block more – on about 34 percent of the team’s pass plays, compared to about 28 percent the first four games. On the season, Celek has eight catches of 20+ yards, tied for fourth-most in the NFL, and just one fewer than Calvin Johnson.

9. The Eagles have scored touchdowns on 43.75 percent of their trips to the red zone. That ranks 24th in the NFL. The main issue? C’mon… you know this one. That’s right, turnovers. Two Michael Vick fumbles, one Vick interception and one McCoy fumble have hurt the Eagles inside the 20. That’s of added importance this week, given that the Lions boast the top red-zone defense in the league, allowing touchdowns just 16.67 percent of the time so far this season.

10. Leftovers: McCoy has 49 carries for 268 yards (5.5 YPC) to the right and 33 carries for 128 yards (3.9 YPC) to the left. …Fullback Stanley Havili has played more than 33 percent of the team’s offensive snaps in each of the past two weeks. …So much for a larger role for Clay Harbor this season. He’s played 34.1 percent of the team’s snaps, compared to 33.6 percent last season. Harbor has just six catches for 50 yards. …Vick completed 11 of 15 passes (73.3 percent) against the blitz last week.